Evidence prompts look back at inquiry into Brazilian's death

After nine days of evidence around the events leading to the death of Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti in the Sydney CBD, we look back over the investigation.

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: A grieving family finally broke its silence today over the way Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti died.

In the four minutes before the 21-year-old's death he was fired at with tasers 14 times and blasted with three cans of capsicum spray.

Today Mr Curti's sister gave an emotional address to the Coroner's Court as its investigation drew to a close. She expressed her family's shock and disgust over the actions of police.

Our reporter Tracy Bowden sat through the inquest and has pieced together the final tragic evening of Mr Curti's life.

DOMINGOS LAUDISIO, UNCLE: It's tough, believe me. I have been trained all my life to be very straight, very calm, but this is quite an experience. It's extremely stressful, it's extremely stressful.

TRACY BOWDEN, REPORTER: For the past two weeks Domingos Laudisio and his family have sat through hours of gruelling evidence as a coronial inquest tries to unravel what led to the untimely death of the young man they call "Beto". The 21-year-old Brazilian was in Australia studying English, living with his sister and brother-in-law in Sydney's inner-west.

DOMINGOS LAUDISIO: Very people-oriented boy, very social, extremely friendly, very warm personality. He had let's call it a personal charm.

TRACY BOWDEN: It was March 17th, St Patrick's Day, the city was crowded and extra police were on patrol. Just after nine o'clock Roberto and two friends arrived at the Irish pub Scruffy Murphy's on the corner of Goulburn and George streets.

JEREMY GORMLY, COUNSEL ASSISTING THE CORONER: Some time between 9.30pm and 11.30pm the three men shared a single tab of LSD which had been purchased by one of Roberto's friends. Toxicology tests on Roberto's hair demonstrated that he was not a regular drug user.

TRACY BOWDEN: Mr Curti and his friends then caught a train to Kings Cross. Later joined by another friend, they walked down William Street back towards the CBD.

The inquest heard that as the evening wore on, Mr Curti's behaviour became more and more erratic. He was scared and agitated, pacing back and forth across the street. His friends urged him to go home. Then just after 4.30 in the morning he made an uncharacteristic call to his sister, saying, "Why do you want to kill me?" She also told him to come home. But his phone ran out and she was unable to get back in touch. Not long after, Roberto Laudisio Curti set out on his own.

Security camera footage from 50 different locations in the city shows events unfolding. Just before five in the morning, four men are seen chasing Mr Curti. It's not known what provoked this. Bleeding from the scuffle he went into a convenience store in King Street, trying to hide and asking for help.

Psychiatrist Jonathan Phillips gave evidence about Roberto's state of mind.

JONATHAN PHILLIPS, PSYCHIATRIST (male voiceover): "His deteriorating behaviour from about 11pm was certainly consistent with the use of LSD. ... finally a point is reached where the person is wholly psychotic and has entered a world which is their own private world - a private hell if you like, and from which there was no escape."

TRACY BOWDEN: Mr Curti left the store then came back again at 5.20 and launched himself onto the counter. On his way out, an act which may have helped shape what followed, he picked up two packets of biscuits. A passing street cleaner called triple 0.

STREET CLEANER: There's a robbery at a city deli in King Street. I saw the guys just jumping the cage.

EMERGENCY OPERATOR: So did they have any weapons at all?

STREET CLEANER: I didn't see.

TRACY BOWDEN: The radio call went out to police, incorrectly, as it turned out, alerting them to an armed robbery.

POLICE RADIO: Rocks Car, any car in the vicinity for an armed robbery City Convenience Store.

TRACY BOWDEN: Within minutes the Police Communications Centre corrected the first call.

POLICE RADIO: No weapons. I can confirm no weapon was sighted. No weapon was sighted, Rocks 10.

POLICE OFFICER: Yeah, Rocks 10. I copied that before. Just, what was the proceeds?

POLICE RADIO: Apologies, Rocks 35. The proceeds of the robbery?

POLICE OFFICER II: Radio, just two packets of biscuits.

TRACY BOWDEN: Hot and sweaty, the inquest heard most likely from the effects of the LSD, Mr Curti removed his shoes and socks then made his way south along Pitt Street, alternately walking and running. Senior Constable Eric Lim and his partner were patrolling nearby. They heard the radio calls, spotted Mr Curti and gave chase. More police officers joined the pursuit.

TRACY BOWDEN: A security camera at the Princeton Serviced Apartments shows what happened next as four officers chased Roberto down the street, two with tasers drawn. Wendy Price, who was staying at the apartments, told the inquest she looked out of her window to the scene below.

WENDY PRICE, WITNESS (female voiceover): "As they were struggling to restrain him, I saw a flash, which he seemed to react violently to and he writhed and twisted and managed to break free from the policeman. It just sounded like he was yelling and I couldn't make sense of it."

WENDY PRICE (female voiceover): "Well, I described them at the time. It sounded like a wild animal yelling."

TRACY BOWDEN: Mr Curti was tackled twice by police and managed to get away and keep running. Officers told the inquest he had superhuman strength. A camera at the Coffee Pit Cafe captured events as a taser fired by Senior Constable Lim brought Roberto Laudisio Curti to the ground for the final time.

POLICE RADIO (male voiceover): The male is resisting violently or was?

TRACY BOWDEN: Police fired their tasers at Mr Curti 14 times in four minutes. A camera inside the taser records what's happening during its use. Counsel Assisting the Coroner Jeremy Gormly said he had reservations about releasing this footage, but Mr Curti's family insisted.

DOMINGOS LAUDISIO: The decision was to show to everybody the difference between what was on that film and what was on the police reports. That was my personal decision. Even against some members of the family, I insisted on it.

TRACY BOWDEN: The footage shows that Roberto Laudisio Curti was on the ground and handcuffed when the Senior Constable Lim recycled his taser and fired a second time. Another officer had a knee on his abdomen.

PETER HAMILL SC (male voiceover): "You had a choice?"

SENIOR CONSTABLE LIM (male voiceover): "Yes."

PETER HAMILL (male voiceover): "One choice was to allow the five or so police officers to attempt to restrain Roberto by, if I can call it, old-fashioned means?"

SENIOR CONSTABLE LIM (male voiceover): "Yes."

PETER HAMILL (male voiceover): "The other was to blast him again with the taser, right?"

SENIOR CONSTABLE LIM (male voiceover): "That's correct."

PETER HAMILL (male voiceover): "You chose that second option?"

SENIOR CONSTABLE LIM (male voiceover): "That's correct, yes."

DOMINGOS LAUDISIO: Roberto was yelling of pain and he was handcuffed, then they were still drive-stunning, tasering him. I'm not saying that he was right. He was acting in a very (inaudible) - his behaviour was inappropriate, but that (inaudible) was unbelievable, unbelievable.

TRACY BOWDEN: When questioned about standard operating procedures for the weapons, police gave different interpretations to the inquest. Constable Daniel Barling, then a probationary constable, admitted in his evidence that he drive-stunned Roberto five times, a method where the taser is held directly against the body, causing localised pain.

JEREMY GORMLY (male voiceover): "I put to you too, Constable, that when you were there, Mr Curti is struggling on the ground and you are aiming your taser at him and pulling the trigger, that had no reasonable basis whatsoever."

CONSTABLE BARLING (male voiceover): "I believed at the time it did."

JEREMY GORMLY (male voiceover): "I suggest to you that instead of it being reasonable policing, it was an act of thuggery on your part."

CONSTABLE BARLING (male voiceover): "No, Sir."

TRACY BOWDEN: In the final minutes of his life, Roberto Laudisio Curti was here in Pitt Street, pinned to the ground and surrounded by 11 police officers. The inquest heard that two officers applied their tasers directly to his body almost simultaneously. They said they were unaware of each other's actions. At the same time another constable discharged up to three cans of capsicum spray close to Mr Curti's face.

JEREMY GORMLY (male voiceover): "Was there any other feature of the event that would assist to understand why there was not a concern about him being able to breathe until that very end stage?"

CONSTABLE RALPH (male voiceover): "Because he was still fighting with us at the time, this is purely what I was thinking. I didn't think there was any concern about him not breathing."

JEREMY GORMLY (male voiceover): "So there was no concern that a reason why he might be fighting was to try and breathe?"

CONSTABLE RALPH (male voiceover): "It didn't cross my mind, no."

TRACY BOWDEN: After seeing the taser cam footage, some police acknowledged that their recollection of events was different to what that vision showed, but all claimed their actions on the night were justified.

JEREMY GORMLY (male voiceover): "So you thought that causing him pain might assist the situation in some way?"

POLICE OFFICER (male voiceover): "Yes, I believed it would cause him to comply with the police's direction."

TRACY BOWDEN: A panel of medical experts told the inquest there's no proof Mr Curti died as a direct result of being tasered, but that the combined actions of police played a part in his death. One doctor gave evidence that the student probably died of positional asphyxiation or choking.

ANA LUISA LAUDISIO, SISTER: Well now, we would like to dedicate some time for us to know a bit more about the lovely person that this world has just lost.

TRACY BOWDEN: Before final submissions tomorrow, the family today had their chance to speak to the court, State Coroner Mary Jerram said the family's statements wouldn't influence her findings.

ANA LUISA LAUDISIO: During the days of the inquest, after hearing what we have heard, we can just say it's shocking. It's shocking that police acted the way they did and their lack of integrity disgusts me.

DOMINGOS LAUDISIO: I witnessed here the absolute, bullet-proof lack of integrity of many police officers - not all, many. It was disgusting and I hated it.

TRACY BOWDEN: Domingos Laudisio's anger is only matched by his enormous sense of regret.

DOMINGOS LAUDISIO: I'm gonna tell you just for you and for the first time, so, be careful on what I'm gonna say. I feel very sorry I was not there to grab him and take him home. That's the way I feel. I dream that - about that every night.